Game Recap from a 1 time/yr attendee

[DinnerJacket]

You are the exception, not the rule.

No, I know several that are the same. SEVERAL. They simply are tired of the losing. After this season now, there will be more. Something will need to happen this off-season, or it will be ugly.

 

[georgia_tech_swagger]

Well don’t get me wrong, I’m not jumping up and down with joy at where we are. But I’m not about to abandon the team either. They need our financial support and withholding it isn’t going to help.

When I don't go, I send the ticket money to the A-T Fund. You can not go deliberately to force the GTAA's hand on staff changes while simultaneously supporting the mission financially.

 

[JJacket]

I go. Win or lose I still booze

Although I have severely cut back on that booze part, being I'm 55 years old and it takes a few days to recover from such foolishness nowadays

 

[THWUGA]

Dang, I didn’t make your list?

But seriously, that’s a great point about the fundraising. Half of that was from the 1970 Class I believe. We could use a bit of that over here in the sports department!

Nice to meet you and your son!

It was a pleasure to meet you and your bride! Certainly wasn't intended as a slight - I had some thoughts I wanted to get on the screen while they were still fresh, and I was too fumed to remember a bright spot at the moment.

 

[THWUGA]

Our entire OL looked horrible. One play, #60 left the player he was blocking to go find someone else to block (I guess that is what he was doing). The player he WAS blocking made the tackle. #77 was good at helping our guy up after his missed block led to a tackle. The other side of the line was no better. They looked slow and weak. Terribly slow. The decent runs we had seemed to be in spite if the OL, not due to it. Just Sims and Gibbs being superior athletes.

Trying to reply to anyone who responded to the thread. Thanks everyone for the comments.

I'm not an OL expert. Never played it as a kid, never studied schemes, etc. Can someone explain this to me (and maybe JJacket since he's mentioning the same thing)? Over and over, I saw our OL seem to miss blocks on the line and be 3-4 yards down field, seeming to look for a "next level" block, but no one was around them. Are they missing reads in zone blocking scheme? Are they simply whiffing and their momentum is carrying them downfield? Are we making bad OL calls that don't match the defense they're lining up against?

It's not just that the OL is bad (they are -- they repeatedly got blown off the ball in run blocking and pass protection when engaged). But it seems like something else is really bad as well... I'm just not knowledgeable enough to identify it.

 

[THWUGA]

There is certainly one of those that we as fans can actively help correct. I bet if the whiny little girls on this board would go to the games instead of sitting on their couches eating Cheetos we could get #7 fixed.

To my knowledge, we have NEVER been a school that fills up the stadium unless we're a 9-10 win team, let alone 7-8 (let alone 3-4)...

 

[THWUGA]

This is why I’ve given Patenaude some praise because sometimes he actually does a good job gameplanning and calling the right plays, but the OLine just completely folds. It’s hard to scheme around an OLine that can’t keep the QB safe against a 3 man pass rush. Sims has no time to throw and the RB’s have to constantly dodge defenders deep in the backfield.

This is half right, IMO. Patenaude's scheme can't be judged off of this OL in general, but at the same time 1) I've seen some crazy bad playcalling for the situation, and 2) at some point you have to call plays that fit the product on the field, don't you? And on top of all that, certainly as OC he holds some responsibility for the OL product on the field.

Despite this, and despite some of my own complains about some specific plays Saturday, I should have noted that it was 100% clear to me that he was calling more plays than ever specifically trying to get the ball in the hands of our playmakers (mostly Gibbs - but also Sims designed runs - the counters were great).

 

[THWUGA]

First, thank you for coming to the game and bringing your son. Tech sure needs more people who do that.

Second, thank you for your thoughtful comments.

Of all the problems Tech has with football, I think attendance is the most concerning. It shows apathy has set in. I've seen Tech be bad before, but I've never seen attendance be so low or apathy be so high. I used to get very upset when we played bad. Now, I'm so used to it that I don't get upset.

It gets harder and harder for me to have confidence in what the coach says. I'd like to see him succeed, but we are constantly out-coached in a very weak conference.

Yesterday after the game, he was asked what he had to say to the fans. He said all the people he was thinking about were in the locker room. That was disappointing.

I'm not too confident in the athletic director, either.

At times this year, I've seen progress. But, it seems like we take one step forward and then two steps backward. I sure hope we take some steps forward soon.

Yeah, we're already nearing late-stage Gailey levels of apathy (or maybe already there?). And CCG is on the same road in dividing the fanbase. I'm curious about your AD comment though - it's reassuring to me that TStan was a football S-A. Surely he has his ears open to other letterwinners and is a football-focused AD. Do you think otherwise?

 

[JJacket]

To my knowledge, we have NEVER been a school that fills up the stadium unless we're a 9-10 win team, let alone 7-8 (let alone 3-4)...

We can get there. Enrollment used to be 12-15k. It is 30k now. Obviously, not all are football fans and GT does have a larger foreign enrollment, I believe, than most schools of the same size, but if we can continuously build, we can hopefully have a good attendence base

 

[THWUGA]

But we gotta strip the ball from the ball carrier on first down.

Yesterday I said that it would be much easier to get the crowd in it if the defense did t give up 7 yards every first down.

Yep, our first down defense was BAD. It was a shock when VT was in 2nd and more than 5 yards to go.

 

[THWUGA]

Season ticket holder from 1984 until last year. Think I missed three (might have been four) home games in that time. Won't bore you with how many away and bowl games in that stretch. Went to tons of games as a student and before I could afford season tickets. Farthest I went was BYU when Reggie Ball played his first game. I sat thru some awful stuff in the 80's and 90's, and still couldn't wait to get to the game on Saturdays. Pestered family and friends to attend games with me. Spring games, pep rallies, signing days.

I could care less now. I often wondered how it would end. Collins broke me. It's no longer the Georgia Tech football team - it's the 404, ATL, Waffle House, greatest rebuild ever, no longer gold and white, BLM, etc. team. Why should I care? None of that has anything to do with me. They just happen to play at BDS, and not very well at that.

Collins did everything he could to cut the ties to the past. He was damn good at that, but not much else. We got rid of a 'high school offense' and hired a high school cheer leader coach. After all the years and money, when I didn't renew, I sent an email telling the AD to give me a call if they wanted to know why. Never heard from them. Guess they are selling so many tickets they don't need my input. It still bugs me, though, that some newbie SOB probably got my parking space, the one I paid dearly for. I had thought that Hewitt was the worst Tech coach, even more than Bill Lewis. Hewitt forced me to puke up my basketball season tickets. Collins gets the chicken dinner, though.

My prediction is that this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Collins has lost the alumni and fans, probably also the players, and the recruiting is likely heading for the exits this year, too. Not sure if there is much of anything left by signing day. The greatest rebuild of all time has yet to start.

There's so much I'm with you on, except for the "404, ATL, Waffle House, greatest rebuild ever, no longer gold and white, BLM, etc. team" part. I think if you want to be Atlanta's team you need to embrace and represent everything about Atlanta, and that includes a lot of this. I think where CCG has lost people is that a) there's a feeling out there that we may as well replace "Georgia Tech" on the uniforms with "Atlanta", and b) none of the talk has produced any results on the field. But I hear you and I'm with you otherwise... hopefully we're both wrong about it getting worse before it gets better.

 

[Liberty]

There's so much I'm with you on, except for the "404, ATL, Waffle House, greatest rebuild ever, no longer gold and white, BLM, etc. team" part. I think if you want to be Atlanta's team you need to embrace and represent everything about Atlanta, and that includes a lot of this. I think where CCG has lost people is that a) there's a feeling out there that we may as well replace "Georgia Tech" on the uniforms with "Atlanta", and b) none of the talk has produced any results on the field. But I hear you and I'm with you otherwise... hopefully we're both wrong about it getting worse before it gets better.

You’re right, we’re Georgia Tech not ATL. Waffle House should be a sponsor. BLM is political and has no business on the field, it’s an “off-duty” activity. Those blue unis are horrendous, makes me pine for getting Russell back. If we were winning, maybe more people would overlook these things. Since we’re losing everyone’s trying to figure out why & all these weird non-football things are determined to be distractors that are being connected to our lack of preparation, execution, etc.

CGC’s focus needs to be football, football, football only these next 4 games not the extraneous BS he seems incapable of managing along with his primary reponsibility.

 

[THWUGA]

You’re right, we’re Georgia Tech not ATL. Waffle House should be a sponsor. BLM is political and has no business on the field, it’s an “off-duty” activity. Those blue unis are horrendous, makes me pine for getting Russell back. If we were winning, maybe more people would overlook these things. Since we’re losing everyone’s trying to figure out why & all these weird non-football things are determined to be distractors that are being connected to our lack of preparation, execution, etc.

CGC’s focus needs to be football, football, football only these next 4 games not the extraneous BS he seems incapable of managing along with his primary reponsibility.

Respectfully disagree with what you’re saying about his and the SA’s version of BLM being political. And even though we may (or may not) disagree about the broader BLM conversation, I understand what you’re talking about the organization itself being political. Respectfully.

 

[GTLiebs]

We can get there. Enrollment used to be 12-15k. It is 30k now. Obviously, not all are football fans and GT does have a larger foreign enrollment, I believe, than most schools of the same size, but if we can continuously build, we can hopefully have a good attendence base

Memory could be wrong here, but another part of it is I think we have an unusually large grad student population (compared to similar size school). Such students have already done undergrad somewhere and if that place had football they may already have chosen a team to follow, might not really continue interest in GT sports after they leave.

 

[Liberty]

Respectfully disagree with what you’re saying about his and the SA’s version of BLM being political. And even though we may (or may not) disagree about the broader BLM conversation, I understand what you’re talking about the organization itself being political. Respectfully.

Yeah that’s what I meant. I’m all for I’ll call it GT style promotions, support, etc. We did break some ground back in the day that’s historically significant and we need to highlight that, we are out on the forefront today in many respects & that’s a good selling point as well. Just need to distance ourselves with THAT group. They are not what the general media makes them out to be.

 

[The Wasp]

Spent the day at GT with my son. We come down once a year for a game together. That was rough.

1) our OL is just terrible. They are slow, weak, don’t seem to know their assignments, and they don’t play with any energy. They seem like a major weakness on tv but watching in person was eye popping. I went to school during Key’s time here and I appreciate him as an alum but I don’t see any coaching evidence with this group.

2) what exactly was Thacker watching? The 3 points at the end of the half were on him entirely. We are not nearly talented enough in the secondary to rush 3 and give even a crap QB like Burmeister all that time.

3) our secondary is bad I’m not sure I can blame Thacker. Between burton and our head coach, you’d think we wouldn’t suck so hard. Clearly we have guys here who shouldn’t be on a D1 field. Sorry but Oliver and King are not even serviceable backups

4) I wouldn’t blame Gibbs and Sims if they left. They are both in a different talent universe. Gibbs fortunately will have his NFL shot regardless. when Sims has any time at all, the kid is great to watch. Throws and runs so well.

5) Pnode was bailed out by Sims and McGowan on that 1st half TD in the north endzone. His 2nd and 3rd down calls were putrid. He repeatedly tried to best VT to the edge and it was never working.I don’t know why he’s calling screens with this team’s talent level. Coordinator wise, it wasO GT’s worst game in my memory.

6) for a head coach with special teams and secondary emphasis, don’t we especially suck in those areas?

7) man, it’s sad to see where attendance has fallen. Our fans just don’t care to show up anymore, and who can blame them? If I lived local and it’s a noon rainy game, I probably stay home too rather than see this product on the field

8) the reunion donations to the academic school really put our revenue issues within the athletic association in perspective. $70mm raised this year from 50, 30 and 25 year reunion classes. Check out our endowment, and compare it per capita to other schools. Then look at our athletic donations, and I think you’ll see where the priorities lie

On a positive note, the cheerleader throwbacks looked great. 50's sweaters, just wish they had thrown on the pre-buzz logo on the T. That's about the best thing that came out of Saturday

 

[GoGATech]

The PA guy


The PA guy must be embarrassed for having to say Money Down. If not, I feel embarrassed for him. It’s juvenile and it feels like the goal of winning is just secondary to being hip and cool instead. I’m sure the opposing fans are laughing at us too.

No way he's embarrassed by that as much as he's screwed up on his own the last 2-3 years. He is tereible and I've brought it to attention several times.

 

[FlatsLander]

No way he's embarrassed by that as much as he's screwed up on his own the last 2-3 years. He is tereible and I've brought it to attention several times.

I'm pretty sure the PA guy at the football games is the same guy that does the BB games. His voice and style is great for BB, but it sounds ridiculous for FB.

 

[vapspwi]

I really miss our old PA guy from the 90s. (Pendergast, or something like that?). Understated, but with enough inflection in his voice that a careful listener could tell when something got him fired up.

JRjr

 

[georgia_tech_swagger]

I really miss our old PA guy from the 90s. (Pendergast, or something like that?). Understated, but with enough inflection in his voice that a careful listener could tell when something got him fired up.

JRjr

00's guy. Easy to understand, and had the great 3rd down cadence to match the F-Tune.

It's 3rd down.
*F-Tune starts*
And (yardage)
*F-Tune kicks up*
From the (yard line)
*F-Tune climax*